Finding Yourself

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We spend a good part of our lives finding ourselves – figuring out who we are.

In one sense, figuring out who we are is a life-long journey we never quite finish in this life. But in a more practical sense, it’s more like a starting point. It’s that point at which we feel like we finally get it. Where we figure out the things that truly matter and the things that really don’t. It’s when we truly start living well.

In the interest of reaching this starting point, we tend to leave off doing some things in the meantime.

For instance, we don’t spend enough time with our parents, kids or spouse. But we plan to do so later…you know, once all the pieces of our life come together. What we fail to see is that the lack of time we spend with them is precisely the elusive piece we’re looking for.

We don’t tithe or give as much to charity. But we plan to do so later…once we’ve made enough money. Yet charity is precisely about giving from our needs, not our wants. Giving when it’s hard and inconvenient, not when it’s easy and from our surplus.

We don’t spend much time with God. But we plan to do so later…once we know him a bit better. Yet we’ll never, ever get to know him better until we spend time with him.

We don’t spend much time pondering our self and our purpose. But we plan to do so later…once we’re satisfied with what we’ve accomplished in life. Yet we’ll never be satisfied in life until our accomplishments share that same purpose.

We’re funny creatures. Eventually we figure out we’ve got it all backwards. Then the pieces finally start to fit together quite nicely.

Yourself is one of those things you can’t find by going out and looking for it – because you already have it. It’s inside of you. And the only way you see it is by giving it away.